Clash of arms: Europe and Ukraine to develop long-range missiles
European countries will develop long-range precision weapons. The new project will be led by the United Kingdom, and the total investment over ten years may exceed $50 billion. We are talking about missile systems with a range of up to 2000 km. About 12 countries, including France and Germany, are expected to join the initiative. According to some reports, Ukraine may also participate in the project. What this means for Russia is in the Izvestia article.
Militaristic plans
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will present a European initiative to create long-range strike systems at the NATO summit in Ankara, the British government's website says. London intends to involve about 12 countries in the development, and the total investment over ten years may exceed $ 50 billion.
"I am determined to ensure the security of the United Kingdom and our allies, and to do this, we must step up efforts to build a stronger and more European NATO," Starmer said.
One of the key areas will be the joint Deep Precision Strike program with Germany. As part of the Trinity House agreement, London and Berlin are developing both stealth and hypersonic weapons with a range of more than 2,000 km. The United Kingdom expects these systems to enter service in 2030 and become one of the most advanced developments in the European military-industrial complex.
At the first stage, the bet will be placed on ground-based complexes. In the future, London intends to explore the possibility of their use from the air and sea. In the next four years, the UK will allocate 770 million pounds ($1 billion) to this area.
Another 1.4 billion pounds ($1.9 billion) will go to Stratus, a project that Britain is leading jointly with France and Italy. It should replace Storm Shadow/SCALP. The new missiles are planned to be inconspicuous and high-speed. Among the stated targets of destruction are important facilities, ships and air defense systems. As indicated on the British government's website, Stratus already provides more than 1,300 jobs at MBDA's Stevenage and Bolton facilities in the UK.
London is also joining the Precision Strike Missile program jointly with the United States and Australia. These ballistic missiles should allow the British army to hit targets up to 500 km away.
The decision was announced against the background of US President Donald Trump's demands for the Europeans to increase defense spending. In this situation, the UK seeks to consolidate its role as one of Europe's military leaders. Such activity may also be influenced by Starmer's personal political calculation: according to media reports, after leaving the post of prime minister, he is going to apply for the post of future Secretary General of NATO.
However, European cooperation in the military-industrial complex has repeatedly faced failures. In June, France and Germany actually closed the project of the new generation FCAS fighter, which was estimated at about €100 billion. The reason was a dispute between the French Dassault and the German division of Airbus over the allocation of work and leadership in the program.
A similar situation arose with the German frigates F126. Berlin has curtailed the six-ship construction program due to delays, technical problems and rising costs. By the time the project was curtailed, Germany had already spent about 2.3 billion euros. After that, Rheinmetall froze plans to expand the naval area and hire 1,000 employees, and Thales announced a write-off of 450 million euros due to the shutdown of the project.
The Ukrainian training ground
Ukraine is spelled out separately in the British rationale for the new missile program. In London, they directly refer to the experience of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and claim that long-range strikes on logistics hubs have already affected "Russia's ability to support offensive operations." This wording was included in the British government's press release. The Telegraph also reported on Kiev's possible participation in the project.
After the easing of Western restrictions in the fall of 2024, Kiev began to actively use long-range missiles to attack Russian territory. Great Britain transferred Storm Shadow to Ukraine, France — their analogue of the SCALP. The exact volumes of supplies were not disclosed. Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry regularly reports on their interception: on June 23 alone, Russian air defense shot down five British-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles.
The cooperation between the West and Ukraine does not end there. In June, the British MBDA signed a memorandum with the Ukrainian design Bureau Luch on the development of the Neptun-2 cruise missile. We are talking about the development of the Neptune complex, which was originally created as an anti-ship weapon, but now it should be able to strike ground targets. At the same time, Kiev is seeking a license to manufacture the SCALP: at the end of June, Ukrainian Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov said that negotiations with France were already in the substantive phase.
However, Ukraine's own missile base remains vulnerable. Russian troops have consistently attacked Ukrainian military-industrial complex enterprises, warehouses, and infrastructure supporting military production. On July 4, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Federation, Army General Valery Gerasimov, said in a report to President Vladimir Putin that the production of cruise and ballistic missiles at Ukrainian enterprises had decreased.
"As a result of the strikes, the capabilities of the Ukrainian industry for the production of long—range weapons, including cruise and ballistic missiles, have been significantly reduced," the military commander said. According to him, this has increased Kiev's critical dependence on supplies of weapons, components, explosives and fuel from Western countries.
What the experts say
The European program is highly likely to be implemented, admits Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine. Ukraine can play a special role in it, where the West is already working out elements of future military operations.
— Using the example of Ukraine, models of a future war with Russia are actually being worked out, including using artificial intelligence systems, long-range weapons of destruction and their integration with various combat control systems. These competencies are of serious interest to Western curators. Therefore, Ukraine's participation will be ensured primarily based on the interests of countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Germany," the source said.
This program was prepared long before the NATO summit, military expert Anatoly Matviychuk points out. He agrees: the countries of the alliance intend to use the experience of the Ukrainian conflict to create weapons for their own armies.
— They will develop systems based on the experience of military operations against Russia. Ukraine will act here not only as a recipient of weapons, but also as a source of combat experience. Ukrainian engineers and the military still have a school, there is an understanding of what tasks need to be set for developers. At the same time, Europe will provide a technological and financial base," the source believes.
Ukrainian specialists may be involved primarily at the stage of setting technical requirements, the military analyst suggests. We are talking about range, ways to overcome air defenses, resistance to countermeasures and adaptation of missiles to the conditions of modern conflict. Production is likely to be deployed already on the basis of the European military-industrial complex.
At the same time, contradictions will remain within Europe itself. Matviychuk expects France, Germany, and the United Kingdom to compete for leadership, order share, and influence on the future program.
Such developments pose an additional threat to Russia. This may require further strengthening of missile and air defense.
— Russia relies on the development of modern air defense systems, including the S-500, as well as on its own means of destruction, including hypersonic complexes. These capabilities should be the main response to the emergence of new long—range systems in Europe," the expert concludes.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
